Strategies for Implementing a Mass Digitization Program

[Excerpt] In 2007, OCLC published the report Shifting Gears: Gearing Up to Get Into the Flow to bring to the forefront a much needed conversation about digitization of archival collections, and access to the rich content accessible only through paper or other analog formats. The authors emphasized that any successful large digitization program would focus on access and quantity. They challenged archivists to rethink policies, procedures, and technologies that either slowed the process of mass digitization, or were unfriendly to the implementation of a rapid capture program. Recent articles, blog posts, and columns demonstrate that we as a profession continue to grapple with ways to implement digitization programs that are both sustainable and efficient. The strategies offered in this paper highlight a practical program for the mass digitization of organizational archival records using a rapid capture process that is replicable regardless of the size or resources of the repository. It will review the establishment of a rapid capture workflow at the University of Minnesota Archives; provide details on how it functions, including equipment information, scanner settings, and workflow procedures; explain the selection process for scanning; describe how it has helped to create inreach opportunities; and finally, examine how it has changed not only daily operations, but the perspective on what it means to provide broad access to the collections

Bulgarian Folk Songs in a Digital Library

The paper presents the main results of an ongoing project aimed at the development of technologies for digitization of Bulgarian folk music and building a heterogeneous digital library with Bulgarian folk songs presented with their music, notes and text. An initial digitization and preservation of the Bulgarian cultural heritage starts by means of digitization and insertion into the library of over 1000 songs that were recorded and written down during the 60s and 70s of XX century. Also we present a full text search engine in a collection of lyrics (text of songs) and coded notes (symbolic melody). Some perspectives for future projects are also discussed

An Anniversary Opportunity: Digitization of Student Yearbooks

Anniversary celebrations provide archivists and librarians with many unique opportunities to build public support for their programs. Archivists, in particular, are expected to be a resource for such events. Handled adroitly, anniversary programming can offset the “dusty shelf” stereotype that frustrates many professionals. Moreover, resource allocators planning an anniversary are likely to look to their archives for ideas and special projects, initiatives that may result in additional financial and staffing resources. Describing the positive public relations value of anniversaries, archivist Tim Ericson has gone so far as to suggest “The Archivist\u27s First Law of Outreach”: Human beings are unable to resist celebrating any anniversary divisible by twenty-five

A Collaborative Workflow for Digitization of Unique Materials

This paper examines the experience of one institution, the University of Maryland Libraries, as it made organizational efforts to harness existing workflows and to capture digitization done in the course of responding to patron requests. By examining the way this organization adjusted its existing workflows to put in place more systematic methods for digital capture of unique collections, the authors hope to provide insight into the benefits and pitfalls of one model for scaling up digitization

Big Data, Digitization, and Social Change (Ubiquity Symposium)

The term “big data” is something of a misnomer. Every generation of computers since the 1950s has been confronted with problems where data was way too large for the memory and processing power available. This seemed like an inconvenience of the technology that would someday be resolved when the next generation of computers came along. So what is different about big data today? The revolution is happening at the convergence of two trends: the expansion of the internet into billions of computing devices, and the digitization of almost everything. The internet gives us access to vast amounts of data. Digitization creates digital representations for many things once thought to be beyond the reach of computing technology. The result is an explosion of innovation of network-based big data applications and the automation of cognitive tasks. This revolution is introducing what Brynjolfsson and McAfee call the “Second Machine Age.” This symposium will examine this revolution from a number of angles

Digital maturity variables and their impact on the enterprise architecture layers

This study examines the variables of digital maturity of companies. The framework for enterprise architectures Archimate 3.0 is used to compare the variables. The variables are assigned to the six layers of architecture: Strategy, Business Environment, Applications, Technology, Physical and Implementation and Migration. On the basis of a literature overview, 15 “digital maturity models” with a total of 147 variables are analyzed. The databases Scopus, EBSCO – Business Source Premier and ProQuest are used for this purpose